The Responsibility to Write
I woke up this morning, took the dog out, did my journaling and mindset practice… but I didn’t want to write. Right after I finish my journaling is when I usually sit down and write my blog post for the day and then work on some fiction (or whatever book project I have going on).
But today, I didn’t feel like it.
I had nothing to say. I couldn’t think of any ideas. And it’s GORGEOUS out today. It’s a beautiful spring day in Western NY and the temperature is 63. In March!! SO not the usual for us this early in the year. Usually we’re buried in snow for another two months.
But today, it’s beautiful.
Surely this kind of weather in the beginning of March can be an excuse for not doing my writing for the day. I did my writing for the last two days, so I don’t need to do it today.
And besides, I don’t feel like it.
But, wait.
What’s that?
This nagging voice inside… telling me that I need to. That even though I don’t feel like it, it’s my responsibility to sit down to the page and show up.
Even if I don’t feel like it.
But, UGH!!! I have nothing to say! I’m out of ideas. I’ve written enough this week!
And yet, the voice nags on…
You’re a writer. You were BORN to write. So you have a RESPONSIBILITY to SHOW UP every day and do the writing.
Writers who are born to write are messengers for the world. They have ideas and stories and stuff inside that needs to be unleashed—that people NEED to hear. And it’s IRRESPONSIBLE and WRONG to keep that stuff to yourself. To hoard it and not bring it out into the world where it rightly belongs.
Your community, your readers, your people need to hear those stories, those ideas, those messages. They’re waiting to hear them. Waiting for the moment when you come along and write something that changes their lives. That makes them think. That entertains them. That causes them to wake up and take action in their own lives because they’re so inspired, motivated and blown away by that little piece of writing you put out into the world.
These stories and ideas came to you for a reason. They CHOSE you.
Because you’re the one who’s meant to channel them from stories and ideas and messages in your head, to words on the page.
And by NOT writing, you’re doing a disservice to all of the people who need to hear from you. Who wake up and the first thing they do is wonder what you have to say today. Who check their emails every morning, looking for a blog post from you.
Who are DISAPPOINTED when they don’t find one.
Because your community, your readers, your fans WANT to hear from you. They want to hear what you have to say. They need to hear it. So they can keep going. So they can put one foot in front of the other today. So they can stay focused on their dream life and creating it for themselves.
Are you really going to DENY them of what they need by not writing today?
OK—I get it! Loud and clear.
I must write. I must write every day. I must write and create and unleash what’s inside me. The stories, the ideas, the messages.
Even when I don’t feel like it.
Even when I don’t have the time.
Even when it’s the last thing I want to do.
I must write. I must write for those who need to hear from me. For those who are motivated, inspired and empowered in their own lives by reading my words.
So I take the dog for a walk and I ask a question, out loud, to the Universe: what does my community need to hear from me today?
And then we walk. Soon after, a phrase comes to me… the responsibility to write.
Now I’m getting impatient. Dog—stop smelling everything in sight! We need to get back home so I can write. The words are piling up in my head with every step we take.
Responsibility to write… You must… It’s a non-negotiable when you’re born to write…
Back in the apartment, I sit at my computer, open my doc and let the words flow.
What comes out is this post. This post that I didn’t want to write. That I didn’t even feel like writing.
But I wrote it anyhow. Because that’s what a pro writer does.
And you’re a pro writer, aren’t you?
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How do you get inspired to write when you don’t feel like it?
